Tuesday afternoon around 1:12 p.m. a truck carrying over 50 tons of asphalt turned over on Prescott Road coming around a corner near Squantum Road. (MEGHAN PIERCE/UNION LEADER CORRESPONDENT)

Asphalt truck overturns in Jaffrey

By MEGHAN PIERCEUnion Leader Correspondent

JAFFREY — A truck carrying more than 50 tons of asphalt overturned on Prescott Road coming around a corner near Squantum Road Tuesday afternoon.

Sgt. Scott Stevens said he responded to the scene at 1:12 p.m. for the rollover.

The driver, Bruce van Vellen, 50, of Hudson, was entangled in his seat belt and needed assistance getting out of the cab of the truck, Stevens said.

The DHART helicopter responded to the scene. Van Vellen complained of shoulder, neck and rib pain, but DHART medical workers cleared him of serious injuries and did not transport him. Instead, a crew from Jaffrey Ambulance took him to Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough.

Van Vellen was delivering 50.94 tons of asphalt from Continental Paving's asphalt plant in Litchfield to a paving project in Rindge on Cathedral Road.

"He indicated his speed was not excessive, but this would indicate otherwise," Police Chief Bill Oswalt said at the scene.

Police and firefighters were on the scene inspecting the undercarriage of the truck. Stevens said his preliminary assessment is that speed was a factor in the rollover.